This invention relates to the field of sewing cabinets and particularly to cabinets for holding a sewing machine at a fixed height but provided with a work table extending across the front of and along the sides of the cabinet with means to hold the table in a horizontal position and to move the table without sidewise motion between an upper, flat bed position and a lower, free arm position.
The sewing machine cabinet described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,946,682 includes means for supporting a sewing machine in a fixed position and at a fixed height and for varying the height of an extension work table between a level substantially coplanar with the bed of the sewing machine and a lower position that completely exposes the cylinder bed structure of the machine. In order to shift the work table from the upper position to the lower position, it is supported on a pair of arms that pivot in a parallelogram type of movement. The axes of the pivots are perpendicular to the front of the machine, which causes the table to be shifted to the side as it is moved from one of the positions to the other. As a result, space must be left alongside the cabinet to accommodate the overhanging end of the work table due to this transverse motion. It is not always easy to provide the necessary floor space for such lateral movement, even if the cabinet is separate from other pieces of furniture.
Other cabinets suggested heretofore require that the sewing machine, rather than a work table, be moved vertically between a flat bed position and a free arm position in which the cylinder bed is exposed. Such a structure is shown in U.S. Pat. No. Re. 28,835, but it has the disadvantage that the level at which the sewing takes place, that is, the bed level and most particularly, the throat plate level, is different in the two positions, which is likely to be inconvenient for the operator, who would prefer that the location of the stitch-forming mechanisms be the same whether the machine is used as a flat bed machine or as a cylinder bed machine.
Other cabinets have provided for exposure of the cylinder bed by pivoting a thick or hollow portion of the cabinet top to one side, but such cabinets require a substantial area along side the basic structure to provide space for the pivoted portion.